My Internet: Emily Oster
The ParentData founder names the ‘stupidest’ MAHA nutrition quest.
Embedded is your essential guide to what’s good on the internet, written by Kate Lindsay and edited by Nick Catucci.
Some Wednesdays, we quiz a “very online” person for their essential guide to what’s good on the internet.
Today we welcome Emily Oster, the founder and CEO of ParentData, a professor of economics at Brown University, and the author Expecting Better, Cribsheet, The Family Firm, and The Unexpected. Emily listens to Napster, rewatches The Real Housewives of New York, and once had an irate reader hire a plane to fly over her office. —Nick
EMBEDDED: Do you tweet? Why?
EMILY OSTER: Not frequently. I used to use Twitter more frequently but … not recently.
EMBEDDED: Do you post on Bluesky, Threads, or Substack’s Notes? Why?
EMILY OSTER: I occasionally post on Threads, not on the others. I’ve found that Instagram is the best platform for the content I present and it’s hard to keep up with multiple platforms and engage reliably.
EMBEDDED: What do you use Instagram for?
EMILY OSTER: Business and pleasure … I do a lot of promotion of ParentData, including helping people navigate panic headlines and posting new content. I also have a weekly Q&A on Wednesdays which has been reliably popular for several years—it’s proved to be a great way to figure out what is on people’s minds, as well as to answer some of their more pressing questions.
From a personal standpoint: I watch a lot of running content on Instagram. It’s my favorite (only) hobby and I have a very high taste for watching other people run.
EMBEDDED: What types of videos do you watch on YouTube?
EMILY OSTER: I do not watch YouTube on a regular basis. I’ll sometimes watch it when they are streaming trail running events. I also watch it over my kids shoulders sometimes, so I do consume some unboxing videos and skin care content, but definitely not by choice.
EMBEDDED: Will you miss TikTok if it is eventually banned, and if so, what will you miss most about it?
EMILY OSTER: I do not watch or use TikTok.
EMBEDDED: Is TikTok a national security threat if it remains under Chinese ownership?
EMILY OSTER: I try very hard to comment only on topics on which I have expertise. Of which this is … not one.
EMBEDDED: Where do you tend to get your news?
EMILY OSTER: Primarily mainstream media like The New York Times, supplemented with some more centrist podcast or newsletter content like The Dispatch. If there is an active news event going on I will sometimes rely on X, although I’ve found it less reliable for this lately.
EMBEDDED: How do you keep up with the online discourse? How important is it to you to do this?
EMILY OSTER: I keep up with online discourse to the extent that it’s relevant for the topics I work on. So, for example, I follow everything RFK Jr is doing with incredible detail and I look at what people are saying about it. I find that keeping up with all online discourse on all topics is impossible and exhausting, so I try to stay focused.
EMBEDDED: What’s the last strong opinion you had about a story, topic, or controversy online?
EMILY OSTER: Seed oils. This whole thing about seed oils being poison is so stupid. I think it’s the stupidest of the various MAHA nutrition quests, and I feel annoyed and frustrated that it’s being repeated by so many people.
EMBEDDED: What are your favorite newsletters?
EMILY OSTER:
EMBEDDED: How do you think Substack has changed media, if at all?
EMILY OSTER: Interesting question. I think it has definitely changed some aspects of the media landscape—before Substack the idea of reading newsletters as a primary way to get news interpretation was obviously not common. A couple of years ago I thought Substack would prompt more people from prestige media brands to go it on their own (like
EMBEDDED: What’s one positive media trend? What’s one negative trend?
EMILY OSTER: Positive: much greater ability to get access to detailed niche content as the barrier to publishing has gone down. Case in point is my favorite newsletter about running—without the newsletter contributions to the media landscape, I don’t think this would exist.
Negative: much greater ability to silo yourself. If you want to only read things you agree with, it’s a lot easier to do that now.
EMBEDDED: Do you have a take on the “manosphere”? Do you think personalities like Joe Rogan, Lex Fridman, and Theo Von have shaped young men’s political leanings?
EMILY OSTER: It seems hard to argue that these personalities have not shaped some of the current discourse. I’m less sure how quantitatively important this is—I don't think we yet have the data to really tell. My primary (and uninteresting) take is that the left really underestimated the appeal of this messaging.
EMBEDDED: Do you believe that the “artificial general intelligence” and “superintelligence” that many AI boosters have warned of actually pose a risk to humanity?
EMILY OSTER: I have no idea and I don’t think anyone else does either!! My sense is a lot of smart people think that we need another breakthrough—not just more larger LLMs—to get to anything that looks like AGI. But that’s a different question, and this existential risk feels very challenging to evaluate.
EMBEDDED: Are smartphones bad for us? Where do you fall on the Jonathan Haidt-Taylor Lorenz divide?
EMILY OSTER: You will be shocked to learn … in the middle. I agree with a lot of what Jon has said, especially the commentary on phones in school. I absolutely think that we should have bell-to-bell bans on phones at school because you do not need to get ESPN notifications in third period math.
At the same time, putting all the mental health declines at the feet of phones feels like it overstates what we see from the data.
In the end, the person I see most eye-to-eye with on this is Michael Rich, I think, in his focus on the parental role in teaching kids how to interact with their phones and how to navigate this tool in a way that helps and doesn’t hurt them. This has been missing from the discourse.
EMBEDDED: What’s something that you have observed about the online behavior of Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and/or Boomers?
EMILY OSTER: There is a very clear age-related move towards shorter content in younger groups. Boomers like a movie, Gen Z likes a 45 second TikTok. Sometimes, it feels to me like people are not even able to focus until the end of the 45 seconds. This is somewhat concerning.
EMBEDDED: How do you find recommendations for what to watch, read, and listen to?
EMILY OSTER: I do not watch very much TV, so I tend to just watch things I’ve always watched in the past. For example: every season of Real Housewives of New York (RIP!). For books, I’ll basically read anything anyone recommends. The best source is my husband who never reads books but always reads The Book Review.
EMBEDDED: Have you had posts go viral? What is that experience like?
EMILY OSTER: During the pandemic, I had a number of different pieces (mainly in The Atlantic) which got a lot of attention. This experience was mixed. Some people are not fans of what I write! Once, someone hired a plane to fly over my office to indicate they disagreed with something I wrote. That was terrifying. But there are also good moments.
EMBEDDED: Who’s the coolest person who follows you?
EMILY OSTER: I’m tempted to list a bunch of professional runners, but I think realistically it’s Mandy Moore or Amy Schumer, both of whom are totally great and have been very supportive in a lot of different ways.
EMBEDDED: Who’s someone more people should follow?
EMILY OSTER: Peter Hull. He’s a colleague of mine, and he studies econometrics, but actually his Twitter is very funny. Also, everyone should know more about causal inference.
EMBEDDED: Are you into any podcasts right now? How and when do you usually listen?
EMILY OSTER: I just finished listening to the New York Times podcast on puberty blockers, which was excellent. My primary podcast time is post-run, or while I’m driving.
EMBEDDED: Have you ever been heavily into Snapchat? Do you miss it?
EMILY OSTER: Seriously? I’m a 45 year old woman. I have no idea how this even works. Is it gone? This is news to me.
EMBEDDED: When was the last time you browsed Pinterest? What for?
EMILY OSTER: Literally never.
EMBEDDED: How would you describe Tumblr’s legacy?
EMILY OSTER: Is this a photo app?
EMBEDDED: Are you in any groups on Reddit, Discord, Slack, or Facebook? What’s the most useful or entertaining one?
EMILY OSTER: No.
EMBEDDED: Do you use Slack or Teams for work? What’s the best thing about Slacking with your co-workers? What’s the worst thing?
EMILY OSTER: We use Slack at work, which I love because it’s a fully remote work environment and having Slack for some social time is extremely valuable. The best thing is people posting photos of their kids. I have no worst things! I love my team on Slack.
EMBEDDED: What is your Wordle starting word?
EMILY OSTER: ADIEU
EMBEDDED: Do any of your group chats have a name that you’re willing to share? What’s something that recently inspired debate in the chat?
EMILY OSTER: No! Mostly mine have names like “Grandma and Grandpa”—self-explanatory. The last debate in a group chat was when my husband posted something to our friends about how he beat me in a swim race, and then we had to debate whether it was fair (no).
EMBEDDED: What’s your go-to emoji, and what does it mean to you?
EMILY OSTER: Smiley face. It means I’m happy but also that I am not a person who is imaginative about emojis.
EMBEDDED: Do you text people voice notes? If not, how do you feel about getting them?
EMILY OSTER: Only one person! She’s my only voice note person and I love getting them from her so I send them back.
EMBEDDED: Do you pay for a music streaming service, and if so, which one? What’s a playlist, song, album, or style of music you’ve listened to a lot lately?
EMILY OSTER: Napster. Seriously, I’m keeping it afloat. Also, Spotify, because my children needed Spotify. I listen to a lot of uptempo music when I run. Someone I follow has a Spotify playlist called “Pain Cave Party” which is my go to.
EMBEDDED: If you could only keep one streaming service for TV and/or movies, which would it be, and why? What’s a show that you’re really into right now?
EMILY OSTER: Probably Peacock, but this is a hard choice. We do not have cable TV and I watch many different streaming services. Show of the moment: The Gilded Age, which of course is on Max, so maybe Max. This question is too hard!
EMBEDDED: What’s your favorite non-social media app?
EMILY OSTER: Strava. Unless that seems like social media, in which case Paprika, which is a menu planning app.
EMBEDDED: What’s the most basic internet thing that you love?
EMILY OSTER: Being able to get books immediately on my Kindle.
EMBEDDED: Is there any content you want but can’t seem to find anywhere online?
EMILY OSTER: It feels like everything is online!
EMBEDDED: Do you regularly use eBay, Depop, or other shopping platforms? What’s a recent thing you’ve bought or sold?
EMILY OSTER: Not regularly. However, I recently realized my favorite pants did not exist anymore, but I got a pair on eBay. This was exciting.
EMBEDDED: Is there a site you like for product recommendations? How do you decide, for example, which air filter to buy?
EMILY OSTER: Wirecutter. My husband literally will not let us buy anything without checking Wirecutter.
EMBEDDED: Have you recently read an article, book, or social media post about the internet that you’ve found particularly insightful?
EMILY OSTER: Not recently …
Thanks Emily! Subscribe to ParentData and buy her books.
More My Internet Alyssa Vingan ∙ Paul Krugman ∙ Karen Hao ∙ Noah Kulwin ∙ Sean Monahan ∙ Derek Thompson ∙ Marisa Kabas ∙ Ed Elson ∙ J Wortham ∙ Tavi Gevinson ∙ All
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